Challenge of repeating ramped up as Astros’ lovability...

Fans hold their K's after Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) struck out New York Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro (14) during the fifth inning of Game 2 of the ALCS at Minute Maid Park ... more

Fans hold their K's after Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) struck out New York Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro (14) during the fifth inning of Game 2 of the ALCS at Minute Maid Park on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Houston. ( Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle ) less

Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle

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Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel (60) fans hold signs up before Saturday's game against Tampa Bay Rays in Houston. Astros won the game 6-2 and now lead the series 2-0. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston ... more

Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel (60) fans hold signs up before Saturday's game against Tampa Bay Rays in Houston. Astros won the game 6-2 and now lead the series 2-0. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle ) less

Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff

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Fans celebrate Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) during the second inning of Game 3 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park on Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Houston.

Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle

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Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (2) celebrates with fans after connecting for a two-run home run, bringing in Houston Astros second baseman Tony Kemp (18) and winning the game for the Houston Astros ... more

Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (2) celebrates with fans after connecting for a two-run home run, bringing in Houston Astros second baseman Tony Kemp (18) and winning the game for the Houston Astros 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth inning at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 in Houston. less

Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle

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Houston Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel and Alex Bregman wave to the thousands of fans from HPD Tower truck 69 during the Houston Astros World Series victory parade downtown on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in Houston.

Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle

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With Carlos Correa, above, still working to return from a back injury and Jose Altuve also sidelined, the Astros could have used an extra bat to help tide them over.

Photo: Bob Levey, Stringer / Getty Images

There was tension in the dugout and frustration in the clubhouse. And when a well-respected veteran Astro strongly spoke out after the just-completed non-waiver trade deadline, he captured what so many were thinking.

The front office had let the team and its fan base down.

“I'm not going to lie. Disappointment is a little bit of an understatement.”

That was Dallas Keuchel on Aug. 1, 2017.

This was Josh Reddick, nine days later: “Deep down, we were all down in the dumps. … We just have to get out of this slump right now.”

The Astros fixed all that on Aug. 31.

Justin Verlander wrapped in orange and blue, minutes before the second and final trade deadline. Then 101 wins, overcoming the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers in the playoffs, and finally, the first World Series championship in this city’s history.

Houston Strong after Hurricane Harvey. A baseball team you could believe and take so much pride in. A franchise that lifted up and honored its incredibly resilient city on a world stage.

Still, last year’s team went 11-17 during a backward August, spent six weeks without Carlos Correa during a critical stretch of the season, and fought through numerous injuries to key names. It took Verlander’s sudden arrival to reignite a historic season, which eventually ended with a franchise-changing triumph in Game 7 of the World Series.

Deadline pressure

The 2018 squad’s self-proclaimed “Back-to-Back Tour” has been challenging since spring training — pressure, distractions, increased internal and external expectations. It only became more difficult after another controversial trade deadline. If the Astros fall short this season? They’ll only have themselves — and their front office — to blame.

The Astros’ takeaway from the 2015 deadline was underwhelming. They barely made a move a year later — influenced by the disappointment from ’15 — and watched the Rangers run away with the American League West. They remained quiet through the first deadline in 2017, then, with minutes to spare, convinced Verlander that Houston could be his new baseball home.

This year?

Controversy, nationwide criticism and stinging questions that aren’t going away any time soon.

Martin Maldonado is a light-hitting, defense-first fill-in at catcher as the Astros keep hoping Brian McCann can be healthy again.

Reliever Ryan Pressly holds a career 3.75 ERA and has never pitched in the postseason.

Reliever Roberto Osuna?

Controversy, nationwide criticism and stinging questions that aren’t going away any time soon.

The trade was so controversial that the undisputed positive of moving on from embattled closer Ken Giles was completely ignored.

A.J. Hinch’s Astros — missing Jose Altuve, Correa and McCann as I type this — needed an extra bat. They had dropped a season-high five consecutive games entering Tuesday and were hitting only .229 in July. The pitching had also fallen off (4.04 ERA in the month, 4.76 since the All-Star break), while all the positive leaguewide attention that came with six All-Stars in the nation’s capital was washed away by the instant condemnation that followed the Osuna trade.

Hinch’s job only becomes more difficult. The clubhouse will again be tested. And even if Osuna is activated by your local baseball team and takes the mound in the October heat, you better be ready for the instant national criticism that will shadow each appearance the moment he’s shown on TV warming up in the bullpen.

The Astros haven’t been this controversial since 2014 and the bitter end of the Bo Porter days. Either the current front office has better, deeper intel than Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays, or the franchise that was so easy to pull for and fall in love with from 2015-17 just set itself up as a question mark if it makes the playoffs again.

The Mariners — long used to life without Robinson Cano, who was suspended 80 games in May for PED use — are just four games back in the AL West, even after losing to the Astros 5-2 on Tuesday night. The Athletics — who recently traded for Jeurys Familia (suspended by MLB in 2017) — are only five games out of first place and, like Seattle, have refused to fall away.

Closing ranks

“When it comes down to it, we're going to win for each other, and that's it,” said Keuchel, on the first day of August in 2017.

A year later, that’s only become more challenging for the Astros.

They were already trying to do what hasn’t been done in MLB since the 1998-2000 Yankees. After trading for Osuna, then bungling the public explanation, a fun-loving team that had become so easy to pull for will have to spend the rest of 2018 standing up for itself.

If the Astros’ back-to-back tour falls short, there won’t be any sympathy from the rest of baseball. And the downfall will have started during another conflicted trade deadline.

Brian T. Smith is a sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle. He was a Houston Texans beat writer from 2013-15 and an Astros beat writer from 2012-13. The New Orleans-area native previously covered the NBA's Utah Jazz (The Salt Lake Tribune) and Portland Trail Blazers (The Columbian), among other beats. He loves music, books, movies, history, nature, coffee and steak.